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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Prometheus

Expectations:
After seeing the many trailers and promo videos for Promotheus, I couldn't help but get very, very excited to see the movie. While science fiction isn't my absolute favorite, when done correctly, it can make some of the most amazing films of all time. I wasn't exactly expecting Prometheus to be one of the most amazing films of all time, but I did expect it to possibly be the best film of the summer (a summer that includes The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises). Damon Lindelof, who co-wrote the film, has one of the most spectacular minds in the history of writing (Can somebody say LOST???), and, with him at the helm, I knew I would not be bored or able to completely understand the movie. Whether you like Alien or not, as this film is an Alien prequel, it looked as if you would be able to enjoy this film. So, in the spirit of all things movies, I hopped on a flight to NYC and enjoyed Prometheus in IMAX 3D!... That rhymed, and I didn't notice until I was proofing...

Plot:
While the plot certainly wasn't as shallow as Dinocroc or Sharktopus, it wasn't quite as deep as I would have liked. There were certain elements that were left very abstract or unexplained, but they just weren't the right elements. The plot and the unexplained had the potential to be so, so, so good, but it just kind of fell into the good range. However, there were many good aspects of the films as well. While there was a love connection, they didn't dwell on it for too long, which helped make it feel real. The coolest parts, in my opinion, were the moments when you were a bit grossed out, but you couldn't look away. With the advancements in technology since the original Alien film, I felt that Ridley Scott and crew did a great job of not trying to stay too true to the original. It wasn't an extreme change (cough, cough Star Wars), but it was enough to make people in the 21st century enjoy the visual elements.

Characters:
I'm going to be honest with you here and say that I'm not a huge fan of female leads in action films. If Katniss had been a boy, The Hunger Games probably would have been better. Given that girls always bring some extra form of emotion to the film, it is usually hard to see them as tough. This was not the case (at all) with Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw. She was plenty tough. Tougher than almost any character I have ever seen. The most amazing scene of the film (which I won't spoil) involves her doing something that made me want to stand up out of my seat and yell "You go girl!" Rapace was just fantastic in the lead. Aside from Idris Elba's Janek, Logan Marshal-Green's Charlie Hollaway, and the following best and worst characters, there weren't too many big characters in the film, which deviated greatly from the original Alien. In the original, everybody was given almost equal time on the screen until they bit the dust, but that was not the case with Prometheus. There were some characters that I had no clue existed until they were dying. I didn't like that these secondary characters had no purpose.

Best Character: Just from watching this video, I knew exactly who I was going to be giving this high honor to, before I even watched the film. David, played by Michael Fassbender, was eerily fantastic. If you go see the film, you will understand why he needed to be in every scene and should get a spin-off or something. It would be great!

Worst Character: While Charlize Theron isn't one of my favorite actors, I didn't think she was going to be awful in this film. Boy was I wrong. Her character, Meredith Vickers, was absolutely useless. I kept waiting for her to have some huge secret or something, but her one big scene was easily predictable (even with my brain malfunctioning at 2 a.m.).

Conclusion:
Prometheus isn't going to go down as the best film of the summer, but it will probably go down as the best sci-fi film of the year. There were many moments that stretched the bounds of comprehension and connection, with relation to the original. However, when the final scene began, you felt like your time was well spent to that point. I wish there would have been a little bit more to the film, but you can't always get what you want. The biggest problem that I had was how rushed every scene seemed to be in the final 40 minutes of the film. I give Prometheus 3.28 stars out of 5. Go watch it, and see if you agree!